Six obvious things you should be doing in UX for B2B but probably aren't

I was recently at the B2B event hosted by Google and there were some definite key take-aways from the event. But one that struck me like a bolt of lightning was how mobile and video are creating waves in Digital, and most companies are yet to embrace it! But we already knew that, didn’t we? Mobile devices have been around for a while, and almost everyone from my friend’s 10 year old to his great granddad own one.

So taking that into context, the time for Mobile is HERE and we need to make use of it NOW. And as the title of this blog goes, this is the first of the six obvious things you should be doing in UX for B2B.

1. Thinking more about mobile

How mobile are your campaigns? Are you creating apps? It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, it just has to make sense and more importantly, it needs to work. So the next time you’re sitting with your creative director, nudge him a bit in the direction of mobiles. Speak to your designers and developers to make sure that websites and landing pages are responsive. Integrate mobile into your integrated campaigns. (See what I did there?). Trust me, it’ll be the greatest asset in your next campaign – and what’s better, it’ll be accessible to pretty much everyone.

2. Testing

Testing doesn’t have to take on a laboratory meaning. Based on the lifetime of most marketing campaigns, designers will often make educated assumptions and guesses about what will work, and what won’t. And this, according to me, is absolutely fine. But, all assumptions (and guesses, however educated they may be) need testing. This especially holds true if you’re catering to large numbers and your campaigns span longer than six months.

My team of designers will know that A/B Testing remains my favourite kind (for both web and email). But try multivariate testing, and predictive heat mapping tools such as 3M VAS is great for this! You can begin to test your designs even before you go to market. (Which is the point of testing, isn’t it?)

3. Paralysis Analysis

It’s in human nature to micro-manage – we love over-thinking everything, especially when it’s our jobs to think and come up with ideas. And that’s where we go wrong in our campaigns. The point is to stop over thinking every little bit of the campaign and to start paying attention the things that matter (I think I almost gave an important life lesson with that one).

Remember, only measure the things that are vital to your campaign and iterate accordingly.

4.Ask your audience (or assimilate them)

Market research, focus groups, interviews – it’s all about getting to know your audience. After the dot com bubble burst, the idea of knowing your audience has been paramount for successful digital. This particularly holds true in the world of UX. Create user stories before you build. Get ahead of yourself and build in time so you can test your campaign on your audience. Put them in beta and test them with a small subset of trusted customers. Card sorting, contextual interviews and focus groups are great methods to know your user.

5.Wireframes

An architect will always put his plan on paper – a blueprint or a foundation plan – which will take him through the entire process of building a house. The same stands true in the UX process. Wire-framing is probably one of the most vital stages in the process and you wouldn’t – shouldn’t – do anything before completing this stage. Let’s face it, there are many ways to skin a cat but you should really spend time thinking about what you’re doing and working up several versions of paper even before clicking a mouse.

6. Gated v ungated

The patience and attention span of online audiences is comparable to that of a goldfish. Once that patience fades, it’s nearly impossible to have a hold on your readership. In such an environment, make sure you know what you’re really doing if you want to gate a piece of content.

Things to gate (and occasionally): Whitepapers, case studies

Things NOT to gate: Infographics, short video content

With the dawn of every year, people say ‘here’s to a new year, a new me’. All I’d like to see are these ‘new’ approaches being implemented to the world of UX.